How do you admit you were wrong? What do you do when you realize those you were defending in fact did not want your defense and wanted something completely different from you and from the world?
 
This is my story.  It will probably upset everybody - those with whom I have fought for peace all my life and those for whom the decision for war comes a bit too fast.
 
I am an Assyrian. I was born and raised in Japan where I am the second generation in ministry after my Father came to Japan in answer to General Douglas Macarthur's call for 10,000 young people to help rebuild Japan following the war.
 
As a minister and due to my personal convictions I have always been against war for any and all reasons. It was precisely this moral conviction that led me to do all I could to stop the current war in Iraq.
 
From participating in demonstrations against the war in Japan to strongly opposing it on my radio program, on Television and in regular columns I did my best to stand against what I thought to be an unjust war against an innocent people - in fact my people.
 
As an Assyrian I was told the story of our people from a young age.  How my grandparents had escaped the great Assyrian Holocaust in 1917 settling finally in Chicago.
 
Currently there are approximately six million Assyrians - approximately 2.5 million in Iraq and the rest scattered in the Assyrian Diaspora across the world.
 
Without a country and rights even in our native land it has been the prayer of generations that the Assyrian Nation will one day be restored and the people of the once great Assyrian Empire will once again be home.
 
It was with that feeling, together with supplies for our Church and family that I went to Iraq to do all I could to help make a difference.
 
The feeling as I crossed the border was exhilarating - `home at last`  thought as I would for the first time visit the land of my forefathers.
 
The kindness of the border guards when they learned I was Assyrian, the taxi, the people on the street it was like being back `home` after a long absence.
 
Now I finally know myself! The laid back, relaxed atmosphere, the kindness to strangers, the food, the smells, the language all seemed to trigger a long lost memory somewhere in my deepest DNA.
 
The first order of business was to attend Church. It was here where my morals were raked over the coals and I was first forced to examine them in the harsh light of reality.
 
Following a beautiful `Peace` to welcome the Peace Activists in which even the children participated we moved to the next room to have a simple meal.
 
Sitting next to me was an older man who carefully began to sound me out.  Apparently feeling the freedom to talk in the midst of the mingling crowd he suddenly turned to me and said `There is something you should know.` `What` I asked surprised at the sudden comment.
 
`We didn’t want to be here tonight`. he continued. `When the Priest asked us to gather for a Peace Service we said we didn’t want to come`. He said.
 
`What do you mean` I inquired, confused. `We didn’t want to come because we don’t want peace` he replied.
 
`What in the world do you mean?` I asked. `How could you not want peace?` `We don’t want peace. We want the war to come` he continued.
 
What in the world are you talking about? I blurted back.
 
That was the beginning of a strange odyssey that deeply shattered my convictions and moral base but at the same time gave me hope for my people and in fact hope for the world.
 
Beginning that night and continuing on in the private homes of relatives with whom I stayed little by little the scales began to come off my eyes.
 
I had not realized it but began to realize that all foreigners in Iraq are subject to 24 hour surveillance by government `minders` who arrange all interviews, visits and contact with ordinary Iraqis. Through some fluke either by my invitation as a Religious person and or my family connection I was not subject to any government `minders` at any time throughout my stay in Iraq.
 
As far as I can tell I was the only person including the Media, Human Shields and others in Iraq without a Government `minder` there to guard.
 
What emerged was something so awful that it is difficult even now to write about it.  Discussing with the head of our tribe what I should do as I wanted to stay in Baghdad with our people during their time of trial I was told that I could most help the Assyrian cause by going out and telling the story to the outside world.
 
Simply put,  those living in Iraq, the common, regular people are in a living nightmare. From the terror that would come across the faces of my family at a unknown visitor, telephone call, knock at the door I began to realize the horror they lived with every day.
 
Over and over I questioned them `Why could you want war? Why could any human being desire war?`They're answer was quiet and measured.  `Look at our lives!`We are living like animals. No food, no car, no telephone, no job and most of all no hope.`
 
I would marvel as my family went around their daily routine as normal as could be. Baghdad was completely serene without even a hint of war. Father would get up, have his breakfast and go off to work. The children to school, the old people - ten in the household to their daily chores.
 
`You can not imagine what it is to live with war for 20, 30 years. We have to keep up our routine or we would lose our minds`
 
Then I began to see around me those seemingly in every household who had lost their minds. It seemed in every household there was one or more people who in any other society would be in a Mental Hospital and the ever present picture of a family member killed in one of the many wars.
 
Having been born and raised in Japan where in spite of 50 years of democracy still retains vestiges of the 400 year old police state I quickly began to catch the subtle nuances of a full blown, modern police state.
 
I wept with family members as I shared their pain and with great difficulty and deep soul searching began little by little to understand their desire for war to finally rid them of the nightmare they were living in.
 
The terrible price paid in simple, down to earth ways - the family member with a son who just screams all the time, the family member who lost his wife who left unable to cope anymore, the family member going to a daily job with nothing to do, the family member with a son lost to the war, a husband lost to alcoholism the daily, difficult to perceive slow death of people for whom all hope is lost.
 
The pictures of Sadaam Hussein whom people hailed in the beginning with great hope everywhere.  Sadaam Hussein with his hand outstretched. Sadaam Hussein firing his rifle. Sadaam Hussein in his Arab Headdress. Sadaam Hussein in his classic 30 year old picture - one or more of these four pictures seemed to be everywhere on walls, in the middle of the road, in homes, as statues - he was everywhere!
 
All seeing, all knowing, all encompassing.
 
`Life is hell. We have no hope. But everything will be ok once the war is over.` The bizarre desire for a war that would rid them of the hopelessness was at best hard to understand.
 
`Look at it this way. No matter how bad it is we will not all die. We have hoped for some other way but nothing has worked. 12 years ago it went almost all the way but failed. We cannot wait anymore. We want the war and we want it now`
 
Coming back to family members and telling them of progress in the talks at the United Nations on working some sort of compromise with Iraq I was welcomed not with joy but anger. `No, there is no other way! We want the war! It is the only way he will get out of our lives`
 
Once again going back to my Japanese roots I began to understand. The stories I had heard from older Japanese of how in a strange way they had welcomed the sight of the bombers in the skies over Japan.
 
Of course nobody wanted to be bombed but the first sight of the American B29  Bombers signaled to them that the war was coming to an end.  An end was in sight. There would be terrible destruction. They might very well die but finally in a tragic way there was finally hope.
 
Then I began to feel so terrible. Here I had been demonstrating against the war thinking I had been doing it for the very people I was here now with and yet I had not ever bothered to ask them what they wanted. What they wanted me to do.
 
It was clear now what I should do. I began to talk to the so called `human shields`.  Have you asked the people here what they want? Have you talked to regular people, away from your `minder` and asked them what they want?
 
I was shocked at the response. `We don’t need to do that. We know what they want.` was the usual reply before a minder stepped up to check who I was.
 
With tears streaming down my face in my bed in a tiny house in Baghdad crowded in with 10 other of my own flesh and blood, all exhausted after another day of not living but existing without hope, exhausted in daily struggle simply to not die I had to say to myself `I was wrong`.
 
How dare I claim to speak for those for whom I had never asked what they wanted!
 
Then I began a strange journey to do all I could while I could still remain to as asked by our tribe let the world know of the true situation in Iraq.  Carefully and with great risk, not just for me but most of all for those who told their story and opened up their homes for the camera I did my best to tape their plight as honestly and simply as I could.  Whether I could get that  precious tape out of the country was a different story.
 
Wanting to make sure I was not simply getting the feelings of a long oppressed minority - the Assyrians - I spoke to dozens of people. What I was not prepared for was the sheer terror they felt at speaking out. Over and over again I would be told `We would be killed for speaking like this` and finding out that they would only speak in a private home or where they were absolutely sure through the introduction of another Iraqi that I was not being attended by a minder.
 
From a former member of the Army to a person working with the police to taxi drivers to store owners to mothers to government officials without exception when allowed to speak freely the message was the same - `Please bring on the war. We are ready. We have suffered long enough. We may lose our lives but some of us will survive and for our children's sake please,, please end our misery.
 
On the final day for the first time I saw the signs of war.  For the first time sandbags began appearing at various government buildings but the solders putting them up and then later standing within the small circle they created gave a clear message they could not dare speak.
 
They hated it. They despised it. It was their job and they made clear in the way they worked to the common people watching that they were on their side and would not fight.
 
Near the end of my time a family member brought the word that guns had just been provided to the members of the Baath Party and for the first time we saw the small but growing signs of war.
 
But what of their feelings towards the United States and Britain? Those feelings are clearly mixed. They have no love for the British or the Americans but they trust them.
 
`We are not afraid of the American bombing. They will bomb carefully and not purposely target the people. What we are afraid of is Saddam Hussein and what he and the Baath Party will do when the war begins. But even then we want the war. It is the only way to escape our hell. Please tell them to hurry. We have been through war so many times,but this time it will give us hope`.
 
The final call for help came at the most unexpected place - the border.  Sadly, and sent off by the crying members of my family I left. Things were changing by the hour - the normally $100 ride from Baghdad to Amman was first $300 then $500 and by nightfall $1,000.
 
As we came to the border we began the routine paperwork and then the search of our vehicle.  Everything was going well until suddenly the border guard asked if I had any money.  We had been carefully instructed to make sure we only carried $300 when we returned so I began to open up the pouch that carried my passport and money stuffed in my shorts.
 
Suddenly the guard began to pat me down.  `Oh, no`! I thought. It`s all over`. We had been told of what happened if you got caught with videotape, a cellular telephone or any kind of electronic equipment that had not been declared.
 
A trip back to Baghdad, a likely appearance before a judge, in some cases 24-48 hour holding and more.
 
He immediately found the first videotape stuffed in my pocket and took it out.  I could see the expression of terror on the driver as he stifled a scream.
 
The guard shook his head as he reached into my pocket and took out another tape and then from pocket after pocket began to take out tape after tape, cellular telephone, computer camera - all the wrong things.
 
We all stood there in sheer terror - for a brief moment experiencing the feeling that beginning with my precious family members every Iraqi feels not for a moment but day and night, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. That terrible feeling that your life is not yours that its fate rests in someone else's hands that simply by the whim of the moment they can determine.
 
For one born free a terrifying feeling if but for an instant.
 
As the guard slowly laid out the precious video tape on the desk we all waited in silent terror for the word to be taken back to Baghdad and the beginning of the nightmare.
 
Suddenly he laid the last videotape down and looked up.  His face is frozen in my memory but it was to me the look of sadness, anger and then a final look of quiet satisfaction as he clinically shook his head and quietly without a word handed all the precious videotape - the cry of those without a voice - to me.
 
He didn’t have to say a word.  I had learned the language of the imprisoned Iraqi.  Forbidden to speak by sheer terror they used the one language they had left - human kindness.
 
As his hands slowly moved to give the tape over he said in his own way what my Uncle had said, what the taxi driver had said, what the broken old man had said, what the man in the restaurant had said, what the Army man had said, what the man working for the police had said, what the old woman had said, what the young girl had said - he said it for them in the one last message a I crossed the border from tyranny to freedom . . .
 
Please take these tapes and show them to the world. Please help us .. . . . and please hurry!
 
Ken Joseph Jr is a Assyrian, a Minister and was born and raised and resides in Japan where he directs www.Assyrianchristians.com 

Thank you for that. I always supported President Bush on this and I know it was right and just and that there was no other way to end the nightmare of Baathism.

Unfortunately, Iraq remains something like Northern Ireland was for the British - but that is not going to go on forever.

On March 21, veteran right-wing journalist Arnaud de Borchgrave, Paris Bureau Chief for Newsweek for 23 years, and now United Press International (UPI) Editor at Large, wrote from the International Desk in Amman Jordan that "a group of American anti-war demonstrators who came to Iraq with Japanese human shield volunteers made it across the border today with 14 hours of uncensored video", and that Kenneth Joseph, a young American pastor with the Assyrian Church of the East, told UPI the trip "had shocked me back to reality'". [1]

On March 23, 2003, The Washington Times ran an identical article by de Borchgrave, also from Amman, Jordan via UPI, stating that the "American anti-war demonstrators" who were accompanied by these human shield volunteers had returned not on March 21, but on March 22. [2]

This time, de Borchgrave described Kenneth Joseph, not as an American antiwar demonstrator, but as a "young American pastor of the Assyrian Church of the East", who was Included in the group of antiwar demonstrators . Joseph's itensely emotional transformation from dedicated antiwar activist into ardent supporter of the war in Iraq was attributed to those interviews. Within 3 days, the right wing media was saturated with this story, which also received coverage in the mainstream press.

Incredibly, nowhere has a single photo or segment from these 14 hours of interviews been published, nor do any other journalists who have covered this story claimed that they saw the videos.

The Washington Times, which published the first stories on Joseph, is owned by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, who acquired UPI in 2000.

Reverend Moon is head of a notorious religious right-wing Christian cult, the Unification Church, whose fanatical followers, called "moonies", are subjected to mind-control techniques, as written about by former cult members.[3] Rev. Moon, whose organization has been the subject of hundreds of newspaper artiles, stories, and books, was convicted for tax evasion on July 20, 1984, and was in federal prison, has developed close ties with the Reagan and both Bush administrations. [4]

The founding editor of the Washington Times, James Whelan, has spoken out against the Moon organization since resigning his position due to manipulation from Moon officials. Rev. Moon's political and business operations were the subject of a 1992 Frontline special on PBS.

PBS questioned the financial backing of The Washington Times, which consistently loses approximately two million dolars a month in operating costs. The Moon organization has spent an estimtated one billion dollars since it began the Times, without accounting for its revenue sources.[5]

De Borchgrave, author of "The Spike" and several other political novels, has been linked to the CIA and far-right think-tanks and institutions, including the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). [6]

On March 26, 2003, The Washington Times reprinted a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article by Jack Kelly, a former Marine and Green Beret, who was deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force in the Reagan administration, entitled "A shield decides it's time to turn it in", describing Rev. Joseph as one of several "repentant" human shields who had been part of "a group of American anti-war demonstrators, that joined a Japanese human-shield delegation" in Iraq. [7]

Johann Hari's Article

On March 27, an article by British journalist Johann Hari, dateline Amman Jordan and entitled "Spreading peace at gunpoint", appeared in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Its topic was alsoKenneth Joseph, the "young American pastor" who was "so convinced that the current war would be waged against the will of the Iraqi people" that he went to Iraq to act as a human shield.[8]

He wrote in this highly charged and dramatic piece that "Joseph was "explaining that his trip had shocked him back to reality". Yet Hari never states to whom Joseph did the "explaining", or where. He recounts Joseph's story as if it were his own, clamining that Iraqis were "willing to see their own homes demolished" in order to end Hussein's tyranny, and proceeds to issue a trenchant indictment of the entire antiwar movement, accusing its members of being "the real imperialists", for ignoring the "true wishes" of the Iraqi people.

Hari had already written an essay on March 26 for the Independent, a progressive British newspaper, entitled "Sometimes, the only way to spread peace is at the barrel of a gun", where he describes Joseph as an "ardent antiwar activist," whose beliefs were "as fervent as any menber of the Stop the War Coalition". [9]

On March 27, the Washington Times then published "Dissiolusioned Human Shields", by right-wing pundit Reed Irvine, head of Accuracy in Media, which is illustrative of the broadside attacks on the antiwar movement which followed. [10]

Irvine's story embellished upon de Borchgrave's account, stating that this group of American antiwar organizers had "joined a delegation of Japanese human shields" in Iraq. He describes the group's spokesperson as Kenneth Joseph, pastor of an obscure religious group, the Assyrian Church of the East, with "a substantial membership in the United States".

On March 28, Irvine also wrote a piece for the right wing newsletter NewsMax.com, making reference to the "plastic shredder" torture methods in Iraq:

"[Rev. Joseph] said that his talks with Iraqis convinced him that Saddam is "a monster the likes of which the world had not seen since Stalin and Hitler. . . Their tales of slow torture and killing made me ill, such as people put in a huge shredder for plastic products, feet first so [the torture masters] could hear the screams as bodies got chewed up from foot to head."[11]

Similar stories, juxtaposing tales of Saddam's torture with an indictment of peace activists, spread like wildfire. Other conservative columnists, such as William F. Buckley's National Review, ran the story, which suddenly appeared in right wing media throughout the globe. [12]

Kenneth Joseph Unknown to Human Shield Organizations

The Philadelphia Daily News covered the human shield expedition from London to Iraq, which comprised over 200 people from 30 countries travelling in red double-decker buses on a gueling 3,000 mile10-day trek. They went to guard civilian sites, such as schools, hospitals, water-treatment facilities and electrical plants. After the Department of State travel ban prohibited American citizens from going to Iraq without obtaining special clearance, all human shield groups needed to apply for this clearance. [13]

A glaring ommission from these articles is how Kenneth Joseph obtained State Department clearance, which he seems to have circumvented as a result of his "invitation as a religious person and family connections'", and which spared having a government "minder" tail him 24 hours a day. [14]

None of the peace organizations or human shield groups whom I contacted had ever heard of Kenneth Joseph, nor is his name found on any human shield-related websites. [15]

Who is Kenneth Joseph?

Both Arnaud de Borchgrave, in his two UPI articles, and Johann Hari, in both the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and the Independent, describe Kenneth Joseph as an "American antiwar demonstrator".

In a report posted by the Religious Organizations Network, entitled "Assyrian Christianity in Japan", by UCAN Report, Reverend Joseph spoke at a conference on March 16, 1998 in Tokyo, on the history of Christianity in the Far East. At the conference, he was introduced as "American Reverend Ken Joseph". [16]

Kenneth Joseph's byline appears on a March 26 article, datelined Amman, Jordan, entitled "I Was Wrong", and posted on the Assyrian Christian News website. He identifies himself not as an American, but as an Assyrian, born and raised in Japan, whose father [Ken Joseph, Sr.] came to Japan to rebuild the country after World War II.[17]

He writes that as a minister, "and due to my personal convictions, I have always been against war for any and all reasons. It was precisely this moral conviction that led me to do all I could to stop the current war in Iraq." He recites with emphasis his antiwar credentials:

"From participating in demonstrations against the war in Japan to strongly opposing it on my radio program, on television and in regular columns, I did my best to stand against what I thought to be an unjust war against an innocent people - in fact my people". . .".

In an interview in Capitalism Magazine, he again spoke about "participating in demonstrations against the war in Japan to strongly opposing it on my radio program, on television, and in regular columns". [18]

Assyrian Christians.com states that Barbara Walters will be broadcasting his videotape. [19] Yet, there is no mention of Kenneth Joseph on the Abc.com index to Barbara Walters show.

Joseph's biography is posted on the Assyrian Christian News website. It states that he is pastor at the Narimasu Christ Church in Tokyo, Japan, founder and director of The Japan Helpline, a worldwide 24-hour hotline and relief assistance organization, and founder and director of the Japan-based Keikyo Institute, which studies the historical roots of Christianity in Asia. [20]

A fundraising appeal for The Keikyo Institute, seeking to raise a million dollars for this "Christian museum in Tokyo", can be found on The Christian Broadcasting Network website. It mentions Ken Joseph's "discovery of the Nestorian Monument in China," as proof that Assyrian Christians settled there, and the goal of the fundraising drive was to provide for the reconstruction of this and other Christian sites in China. There is no mention whatsoever of peace or antiwar activism. [21]

Joseph graduated from the Christian Academy in Japan, and Biola University in La Mirada, California, with degrees in Intercultural Communictions and Mass Communications, and after graduation, returned to Japan in 1987, which would make him at least 37 years old. Yet a recent interview in Japan Today magazine, discussing his work on the Japan Helpline states in bold letters that he is 28. [22]

The alumni directory for Biola College posts an entry for Kenneth Joseph. While he states that he is a pastor in Japan, directing the Keikyo Institute, has written 3 books, and a weekly column for one of Japan's main newspapers, nowhere does he mention being a "peace activist". [23]

Joseph's biography also states that he is currently working on a book about his experiences in Iraq and the current situation in the Middle East, and in other articles, he claims to have written a book along with his father on Assyrian Christians in the Middle East. Yet, nowhere does Amazon.com list any references to books written by Kenneth Joseph, Jr., nor was he mentioned on a website email directory of Assyrian authors.

Joseph wrote an article entitled "The Forgotten Christians", posted on October 29, 2002 to Church of the East News.com, which credits him as a "writer and Assyrian Missionary in Japan". It lists his address c/o The Keikyo Institute, which his bio says is in Japan, as being in California (Box 16351, Sierra Madre, CA 91104), with an email address, Info@Church of the East.com. Nowhere does this article even hint at fervent antiwar activity, despite the fact that the article begins "with signs of war with Iraq increasing every day". [24]

Joseph presents a detailed history of the Assyrian Christians, whom he claims still speak Aramaic, the language spoken by Jesus. He then segues to a discussion of U.S. foreign policy: "Currently, the State Department is attempting to put together a coalition of Iraqui Nationalist Groups to decide on a future Government, but the Assyrian Christians as the only non-Islamic group in the mix are at a decided advantage". Id.

Thus, a full 5 months before UN inspections were cancelled and the Iraqi war began, this "antiwar activist" had an inside track on plans for a post-war Iraqi government.

In the January, 2003 Assyrian Christian Newsletter, Dr. Dan Wooding, founder of ASSIST Ministries, penned "Ministering to the Assyrians", about a clandestine missionary trip led by Kenneth Joseph, an American "Western Assyrian Christian" who "now lives in Japan" to Baghdad. Joseph, who apparently just returned, went there to deliver supplies to "the precious Assyrian Christians and to set up a network to distribute relief once the situation calms". [25]

He quotes Joseph as having stayed "with relatives in Baghdad", and being "the only foreigners in the city without a Government agent. Joseph also claims that one of his students was working with a UN Agency, "so we were completely protected and able to work out of the UN Offices and the Church." Id. Nowhere is there any indication that Kenneth Joseph was an antiwar activist or human shield.

The Assyrian Christian Newsletter, which I logged onto on April 2, has since been disabled.

In an article datelined January, 2003, entitled "The Forgotten Christians of Iraq", a right wing newsletter emblazoned with the American flag, there is no mention of a planned trip to Iraq to be a "human shield", nor antiwar sentiment, nor even the missionary relief trip. He did, however, state that he was a delegate from Asia to the recent Assyrian Representation meeting in London, which brought together Assyrians from Europe, the U.S., Asia and the Middle East for the first time, to put together a plan for a post-Saddam Iraq". [26]

It is obvious that Kenneth Joseph has been involved in long-term policy planning for the future of Iraq, with an eye upon being a key player in post-war reconstruction.

The Japan Times Connection

Kenneth Joseph's regular newspaper column is published by Japan Times, for which he has a regular column. Japan Times is part of the Nifco group, a multinational corporation. The Chairman of the Board of Nifco is Toshiaki Ogasawara, a member of the Trilateral Commission from 1992 through 2002. [27]

Ogasawara is a graduate of Princeton, and serves or has served in some official capacity on the boards of Bank of America, Avon, Nike, General Electric Japan, Prudential Asia, and LucasVarity. He is also on the Board of Trustees of the University of Southern California, and the Board of Governors of the Pacific Forum, a project of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), where Arnaud de Borchgrave works. [28], [29].

The index linked to his name lists 36 articles written by Joseph since he started his column in 2002. [30] None contain any references to antiwar activity, the war in Iraq, political demonstrations in Japan, or human shields in general, until April 1, over a week after de Borchgrave's UPI article.

The Japan Times did print several articles on human shields arriving in Syria, dateline Damascus, March 29, 2003. They mention two Japanese who left Baghdad after serving as "human shields", and were staying at a hotel in Damascus. The delegation was described as having guarded water purification plants near Baghdad, to symbolically ward off attacks.

The Japanese Embassy said that both were in good health, and that 41 Japanese were still in Iraq, with 9 still acting as human shields, as reported by the Foreign Ministry. Remarkably, despite Kenneth Joseph being a staff writer for The Japan Times, nowhere is this internationally renowned "human shield" mentioned in his own paper as having joined company with this Japanese delegation, as reported by de Borchgrave. [31]

Then there is the matter of Kenneth Joseph's column in Japan Times.

In the two years that Joseph has written this column, the first time Joseph mentions the impending war in Iraq was his February 27 article entitled "Persecuted for centuries, Iraq's Assyrian Christians once again worry of their future". [32]

In that article, Joseph calmly and dispassionately discusses the global political situation, focusing on Assyrian Christians. He writes about U.S. State Department plans to assemble a coalition of Iraqi nationalist groups to establish a future government.

He seems amazingly knowledgeable about plans for post-war Iraq, making reference to a pan-Assyrian conference in London, which drew up plans for a post-Hussein Iraq. Discussions at the conference covered "the establishment of political priorities for which land would constitute an independent Assyria and a constitution." This is not the writing of an impassioned, rather naive peace activist, but rather of a seasoned political strategist with advance knowledge of the impending war.

On April 1, he wrote an article for Japan Times, "Many Iraqis see war as their only escape route", describing a recent trip to Iraq, without giving the dates of that trip. [33]

He alludes to his antiwar views, and his newspaper columns on the subject, but paradoxically doesn't refer to any antiwar articles in column for that paper. Nor does he mention being part of a delegation, American or Japanese, to Iraq. Joseph recounts how he "began to talk to some of the 'human shields' gathered in Baghdad", who are described as presumptuous, insensitive, and tone-deaf to the needs and desires of the Iraqi people for freedom, even if it means war in their land. He notes how the Iraqis were prepared for a loss of life, perhaps their own.

There's only one thing Kenneth Joseph doesn't mention: the videotapes.

http://www.counterpunch.org/lipton04122003.html

...is exposed for the world to see.

With this letter, their incredible arrogance and condescension is drug out into the light.

"It's okay, Mr. Iraqi Citizen, we know what's best for you. We know you're better off ground under the heel of the Ba'ath Party. War is so terribly awful that anything is preferable. No, no, don't thank us; we don't mind marching with signs and chanting. Anything we can do to prevent the war, you know. We're saving you from the evil American killbots, who want to personally kill you for your oil. We'll support you from the comfort of our freedoms here in America, the freedoms that, if we get our way, you will never have a chance of enjoying (not that we'll admit or even regognize that, of course).

"What's that? 'Hurry up', you say? No, no...that won't do. International concensus is paramount. No unilateralism. Give the inspections a chance...six months or more. France doesn't want America to attack, you know, and of course they are the voice of reason in the world, the counterbalance to American KKKorporate imperialism.

"It's okay, Mr. Iraqi Citizen, we know what's best for you. Don't worry your little head."

...on the home front.
It's hard to lose the battle of the space ( in nonanarchist's case, air
pockets) between the ears in the mind of the american public.
This is like the phony letters sent to news papers in the name of local
solders which were all identical, to around 200 news papers.
It was so much easier when a few phone calls could provide 'guidance' in information control to the media outlets.

Even if Joseph's article is fake, how does that in any way negate the fact of the anti-war crowd's arrogance and condesension?

Here's a hint: It doesn't.

I don't believe that the spook known as nonanarchist is worthy of any
response from me and I will consider it like I do monkeyboy, to be ridiculed rather than conversed with. It has no balls, morals or fidelity.
'Safe' behind the gates of its AFB staying away from combat here in the real world when real men are dying for his masters in some other hostile land with little food water or rest.

So, you're admitting you cannot refute what I say.

You just don't have the courage to use those exact words.

And, in an amazing display of juvenile debate tactics, you stick your fingers in your ears and shout, "La la la, I can't hear you!"

Sure the people wanted war because of what we did to Iraq after the first Gulf War and the bombings and sanctions that followed. Over 500,000 Iraqie children died as a direct result of the sanctions. Before the first Gulf war Iraq had good infastructure and the people all had health care. Also Iraq was secular and Iraqie woman had far more rights than any other Arab nation with one of our puppet dictarors installed. This letter reminds me of the incubator story hyped up by the PR firm hired by Dady Bush to sell the first Gulf War. You know the one where Iraqie soldiers supposedly ripped babies from incubators and threw them on the floor. This letter I'm sure is written by some PR firm to try and sell the American People on this failed occupation.
Bush looses credibility with each soldier that comes back in a Body Bag, and the republican legislators will be sorry for backing him on it.

"Even if Joseph's article is fake, how does that in any way negate the fact of the anti-war crowd's arrogance and condesension?"

A "fact" which was introduced how? By an earlier comment claiming it?

Your "fact" is an assumption; a claim, if you will, that the "antiwar crowd" is arrogant and condescending.

This is an example of begging the question, in that the truth of the conclusion- that the "antiwar crowd" is arrogant and condescending- is claimed or assumed in the premise, and one of abusing the burden of proof, since a claim is flung out without support and with the assumption that the claimant's opponent is obligated to prove it wrong.

This trick- to slip a claim into the discussion and then later act as if it must be an established fact- is here just a method of introducing a red herring.

And red herring it is, because the "arrogance" or lack of it of people opposed to the Bush regime's policies is completely irrelevant to the authenticity of this article and the interpretation that right-wing propagandists want to place on it.

If, as the lack of any trace of antiwar speech or activity on his part implies, Joseph is not a "converted" anti-war activist but a person previously involved with Iraqi exile politics whose pro-war opinions were already formed, then your desired conclusion- that antiwar opinion must have been wrong because here's an antiwar activist repenting (itself a fallacy- biased sample and hasty generalization there)- fails because it's based on a misrepresentation of the facts. If the repentant antiwar activist is nonexistent by virtue of being neither an antiwar activist nor repentant, the entire argument proposed by the posting of this article comes crashing down, and the perceived arrogance of anyone hasn't a thing to do with it.

Next time, try reprinting something that doesn't turn out to smell like the Williams-Brown letter (see chapter 52 of Mark Twain's "Life on the Mississippi") and pick some Bad Debating techniques that haven't already been beaten to death by Moon Hoax twinkies and Planet X woowoos.

Did the anti-war crowd ask the Iraqi people what they wanted?

No. That's arrogance.

Did their cries of "No war!" show explicitly they presumed to know what's best for the Iraqi people?

Yes. That's condecension. Or, by opposition to the war on political grounds, rather than moral, it proves they never really gave a damn about the Iraqi people in the first place, and were willing to sacrifice any number of Iraqis to the Ba'ath Party as long as G Dub didn't get his way.

"If the repentant antiwar activist is nonexistent by virtue of being neither an antiwar activist nor repentant, the entire argument proposed by the posting of this article comes crashing down, and the perceived arrogance of anyone hasn't a thing to do with it."

If you'd been paying attention to what I wrote, rather than thumbing through your old logic textbooks, you would have seen what I wrote:
"Even if Joseph's article is fake, how does that in any way negate the fact of the anti-war crowd's arrogance and condesension?

Here's a hint: It doesn't."

Now, how can you sit there and argue that the anti-war bunch WASN'T arrogant and condecending? Like I said, it doesn't matter if the letter was written by an activist or not.

Or are you trying to toss out a few red herring of your own?

Yeah, it's all America's fault, isn't it?

Everything. Everything. Everything.

"Over 500,000 Iraqie children died as a direct result of the sanctions."

I can't BELIEVE anyone is still trotting this one out. Let me explain it in terms you can understand:

You are the head of a family in a socialist country. The State has determined exactly how much money, food, and medicine you need, and the amounts are generous. The shipments arrive regularly and on time.

You, however, get greedy. Instead of feeding and medicating your children, you decide to build more houses. You warehouse the food and medicine and give it to your buddies.

Your children starve. Whose fault is it? The State's?

NO. It's YOUR fault.

Understand now? The deaths of Iraqi children under the sanctions can only be laid at Saddam's feet. To believe that America is at fault is evidence of a political motive, and is entirely suspect.

thank you for your input, as it was a cogent analysis of a familiar tactic to cover the clumsy and transparent justification of this current outrage of international piracy. Airman Airpockets keeps beating the
'Saddam was a badman' drum 'forgetting' who he was and how he was put into power.
The CIA has a morbid and consistent history which has
left a trail of horror in countless places around the world. Iraq is just another example of this hired AGENCY of wall street putting another monster of its own creation in place of a less corporately friendly head of state.
Thus we have operatives like the above poster at work attempting to cover reality with a veil of ridiculous ascertations which avoid the deeper facts of how things actually occurred.

Regarding "nonanarchist"'s attempts to support his claim of arrogance:

Exactly the same claims can be made about the pro-war crowd- that they arrogantly assumed that they and they alone knew what was best for the people of Iraq, that they supported the war for political rather than moral reasons, because it advanced an existing package of neo-con theorizing...the verifiable fact that the Bush regime proffered no moral arguments relating to the welfare of the Iraqi people when marketing their war but instead relied on tales of WMD, allegations that Saddam Hussein was allied with the same people who brought us 9/11 and have brought forth the Iraqi people as a justification only after their scare stories have proven specious should serve as support for the "political reasons" hypothesis.

Okay, that's a bit of a tu quoque argument, but I thought it worth pointing out that you can characterize pretty much any opinion or action as "arrogant" if you're determined to put that interpretation on it. . The real problem with your claims of arrogance is that they're a species of affirming the consequent- You start by postulating that anyone who arrogantly thought that they knew what was best for the Iraqi people would hold an opinion about the Iraq war which you don't approve of, note that there actually is a substantial body of opinion which you do not approve of, and conclude that anyone expressing those opinions is therefore arrogant. Even neglecting that your unspoken major premise hasn't been supported with evidence (how can you assume that anyone with an inflated notion of their ability to discern the best interests of the Iraqi people would automatically and exclusively be anti-war; such a person could use their excessive self-importance to prop up any chosen opinion) , the reasoning is backwards. "if A, then B. B, therefore A" simply doesn't work. The converse, "if A, then B. Not B, therefore not A" does work, and is the basis of an awful lot of troubleshooting logic, but that's not the argument you're trying to make.

The "arrogance" accusation (it's not an argument, only an accusation) is a truly classic example of a red herring- when the validity of a premise, and therefore the conclusions drawn using that premise, are brought into question, this accusation is thrown in to distract from the subverting of the original argument, irrespective of its irrelevance to the point in question.

Bringing a discussion back to the relevant point- the authenticity of the article and the implications of that authenticity for the conclusions being promoted after the attempted introduction of a red herring doesn't constitute another red herring.

Perhaps you'd care to address what it means for the propaganda purpose behind the posting of this article if it does turn out to be based on a false premise.

I don't need a logic textbook to identify the particular species of logical fallacy in an argument when they've become old friends through spending time debunking anti-Semites, Planet X nutbars, chemtrailers and other popular styles of tinfoil-hat nonsense in places like Godlike Productions.

I find myself thinking the same thing as when I found myself digging up, for the third time in less than three months, the references to Philip Graves' original debunking of the "Protocols": "How on Earth have we reached such a state of collective ignorance, that open Net discussion brings forth only dueling hatefreaks?"

Incidentally, I highly recommend everyone, left or right, to read the Twain citation I gave earlier. Besides being a rattling good tale, it's an excellent demonstration of the foolishness of unquestioningly seizing on a screed and neglecting to check its provenance because it happens to comport with one's preconceptions.

I also recommend to our far-right trolls that they spend some time reading the output of Bill Kaysing, David Percy, Cosmic Dave Cosnette etc., so as to learn how to misuse logic the way a genuine professional twinkie does it.

The anti-war crowd says: "We don't want the war, regardless of what the Iraqi people want."

The pro-war crowd says, "We want this war to eliminate a threat to the US, regardless of what the Iraqi people want."

Fair enough; there's arrogance on both sides.

However, whose arrogance actually benefitted the Iraqi people?

The anti-war group's? No. Had they gotten their way, more would have died by the rape squads, shredders, and acid baths.

The pro-war group's? Yes. The regime was removed, and thus the 25-year reign of terror was ended.

Now, you tell me: whose arrogance did some good?

"You start by postulating that anyone who arrogantly thought that they knew what was best for the Iraqi people would hold an opinion about the Iraq war which you don't approve of..."

Nope. Never said that. I was speaking strictly of the anti-war crowd, whose stance quite clearly implied they knew what was best for the Iraqis.

"...how can you assume that anyone with an inflated notion of their ability to discern the best interests of the Iraqi people would automatically and exclusively be anti-war..."

Never said that either. Again, I was speaking of the people who, by their own words, were against the war. Honestly, if you're having trouble with my meaning, you shouold just ask for clarification before inventing views and attibuting them to me.

"... the relevant point- the authenticity of the article and the implications of that authenticity for the conclusions being promoted..."

Relevant to you, maybe. I was writing my reply and posted it before I saw the post questioning the author's veracity. And, as I stated above, the question of the letter's authenticity is moot...it has no bearing on the attitude of the anti-war crowd.

"Perhaps you'd care to address what it means for the propaganda purpose behind the posting of this article if it does turn out to be based on a false premise."

I thought I'd made myself fairly clear on that point. Guess not, so I'll say it again: it's a moot point. It doesn't change at all the fact the the Iraquis were grateful for their liberation. Regardless of the letter's truthfulness, it will change no one's mind. Those who supported the war will continue to do so. Those who opposed the war will continue to do so. Guess which side the Iraqis will thank?

For your debunking efforts, good deal. Keep up the good work. I'm sure you've found, however, that those who hold such beliefs as you've been battling have no desire to have them debunked. Still, you gotta fight the good fight.

"...a familiar tactic to cover the clumsy and transparent justification of this current outrage of international piracy."

Have YOU asked any Iraqis, Lambie Pie? Wonder how they feel about this piracy?

" Airman Airpockets keeps beating the
'Saddam was a badman' drum 'forgetting' who he was and how he was put into power."

Well, he was a bad man, wasn't he? Or do you insist the only villain in this affair is Bush? As far as who put Saddam in power, no one is debating that. He was an expedient at the time. Even the Iraqis themselves were glad to see him come to power. But he went bad, and became a danger to not only his people but the entire region...and the Western world. Ol' Yeller's family didn't know he was going to go rabid, did they? No. But when he did, they put him down. So I may assume by your "We put him there!" rant that no one (especially Republicans) are allowed to fix past mistakes; that their sins will last forever. Gotcha.

"... this hired AGENCY of wall street..."

Hee hee!

"Thus we have operatives like the above poster..."

That really makes you feel more powerful, doesn't it? Imaginbe, the entire US govewrnment is out to "get" Sheepdog! Cool! Do yo wear dark glasses all thetime, so you don't get recognized? Do you sweep your house and car for bugs? Tracking devices? Do you peer out the window for black helicopters?

It is just totally beyond your capacity to think that I'm just a guy who disagrees with you, isn't it? No...I have to be paid by the gov't to disagree with you.

Whatever floats your boat, Skippy. But keep it up; it rather amuses me to be the object of a paranoid conspiracy fantasy.

Ok lets make this simple, here is a quick history lesson on Iraq

1. Iraq is part of the Utoman Empire

2. Iraq is part of the British Empire

3. Iraq kicks Britian out, and a democraticly elected
leader by the name of Mozadeck nationalizes the oil
supply. Imagine that a leader who wants to use the oil
revanues for the good of the people and not to fill his own
pockets and the bank accounts of US corporate interests
who keep him in power by the use the military and state
sponsered terrorists.

4. Britian screams bloody murder and asks Truman to send
the CIA in and overthrow the government via a CU DE TA.
Truman refuses reconizing Iraq's right as a sovern nation
to elect who ever they want.

5. Eisenhower is elected and gives Britian what it wants.
CIA backed thugs stir up trouble in the streets and
military officers are bribed and as a result Mozadek is
overthrown and a new regime more friendly to US and
British corporate intrests is installed.

6. Sadam ruthlessly comes to power and kills all his
advisaries. The US and Britan help him build a massive
army to keep Iran in check. Sadam gasses the Kirds
in Halabja durring the war with Iran. Two weeks later Iraq
is taken off the terrorist list and Sadam is congradulated
by Rumsfeld for his great work( I won't bother posting the
picture cause I know all your right wing fucks have seen
it.)

7. After Iraq is bankrupt from the war with Iran which was
encouraged and funded by the U. S. , Sadam meets with
the American ambassador to get permission to invade
Kuwait to gain accsess to the gulf and reclaim territory
that was orignally part of Iraq in the first place. After
getting the green light Sadam invades kuwait.

8. Instead of using diplomacy Daddy Bush hires a PR firm
to sell the need to go to war by spreading a fake story
about babies being ripped from incubators and thrown
on the floor.

9. Iraq is bombed and is reduced to a third world nation. It's
infrastructure is destroyed, including it's water system
and thousands of people die. In one incident broadcast
on the national news over 200 civilians in a shelter are
incinarated by a U. S. airstrike. Bush declares that Iraq
historically has belonged and will continue to be a part
of the US empire.

10. Under Clinton's watch sanctions are continued denying
Iraq badly needed medicines. Thousands
of children die every year due to water born diseases.
Madeline Albrite is asked are the sancations worth
the death of Iraqie children and she replies, "We belive
they are".

11. Fast forward to 2002 and Bush Junior is in power with
the same players from Gulf War 1. After 9-11 Bush
declares a never ending war on terror and the Axis of
Evil. After Afganastan is bombed and the country is
handed over to the Northern Alliance, Iraq is linked
to 9-11 and is considered an imediate threat to the
U. S.

12. Bush declares a new foreign policy of premtion with
the right to attack any soveirgn nation it deems to
be a threat.

13. Iraq is once again bombed and after the U. S.
invasion is compltely destroyed. Anarchy
errupts and there is massive looting with all
ministries, with the exception to the oil ministry,
being looted.

14. The other two members of the axsis of evil having
seen what happened in Iraq start developing their
nuclear weapons to defend themselves against
U. S. aggression and the policy of premptive atttack.

15. Iraqie ressistance grows as the U. S. is caught in
a costly occupation as soldiers start to come home in
body bags and tax payers are asked to pay 87
billion dollars as a down payment for the war.

16. No weapons are found in post war Iraq and it
is discovered that documents used by Bush
in his state of the union speech , which claimed
Sadam was seeking encriched Uranium in
Africa, were forged.

17. Carl Rove leaks the identity of Joseph Wilson's wife
to the media as payback for telling the truth about
Bushe's lies concerning Sadams attempted
urainium purchases.

"Did the anti-war crowd ask the Iraqi people what they wanted?

No. That's arrogance."

It's arrogance to assume you even have an idea of what the anti-war crowd was doing.

In fact, throughout the 90s, there have been groups going to Iraq under various auspices to see what's been happening there. These tours appeal to people interested in politics, and are organized by groups of various persuasions.

Prior to the last war, the popular position of some progressives was to lift the sanctions and stop the occasional bombings that Clinton restarted. During the war, all of the anti-war people I talked to were happy that the Iraqi regime was being overthrown, but, they also predicted, before the war even started, that the oil fields would be ceased, no WMDs would be found, OBL would make a comeback, and we'd install a dictator. (The last part hasn't happened yet.)

Also... it's good to know that nonanarchist and Bush Admirer don't care about the truth, and freely admit it.

The general arc of that story is correct, but, there's a glaring error. The guy's name is Mossadegh, and he was in Iran. The Shah was a friend to the oil companies, and the Iranians got rid of him and put Mossadegh into power. He nationalized the oil, and basically messed with the oil companies pretty bad. So the CIA and Brit intelligence orchestrated an overthrow of him, and reinstalled the Shah.

This set the stage for the Iranians being screwed hard by the west, for their oil. Resentment built up, and radical fundamentalist Islam arises, and the Iranian Revolution kicks the Shah out, takes US hostages, and starts the first Gulf War with Iraq.

That's how we came to turn Saddam Hussein into a client of the US for a while. We looked the other way while he murdered people in Iraq.

All this could probably have been avoided if we could accept the idea that an oil company should be allowed to fail now and then, especially if it means the people who *own* the oil make a little extra money. But... noooooooooooooooooo... the US and Brit goverments have to go assure profits for their corporate cronies, especially when it's Iranians getting shafted.

I got the story wrong too. Here's a better version at wikipedia. It's interesting stuff. The CIA were actively working to undermine the popular leader.

This article is awesome. It not only recaps the history of how the US subverted democracy in Iran, replaced it with a dictatorial monarchy, and then got its comeuppance with the Iranian Revolution, it has some commentary about how the New York Times covered its ass regarding its own complicity in the CIA backed overthrow.

I'm KOBE HQ.

Please hack and spam my website.

www.kobehq.com

I'm KOBE Wurm.

Mebbie you should hack and spam www.kobehq.com

That is why the vast majority of Americans can not stand you guys. When workers vote conservative they are decried as victims of "false consciousness". When people attempt to defend their families from the government they are ridiculed as "reactionary" and so it goes. The left has no relevance for most working-class people beyond the extremely marginalized. Look at the demographics of any leftist group. They tend to be middle-class and college educated yet spend a lot of time fronting like they are working class or poor. I hate to break it to ya but most of us lumpens and workers can't stand ya!

They're arrogant because they're led by state-funded academics like Chomsky who've neer done a day's honest labor in their lives. Yet they like to call us working class. Well guess what, most "working class " want to be wealthy, that's why we vore conservative.

"...the vast majority of Americans can not stand you guys."

Unsubstantiated Allegation
For more on logic at YOUR level, try reading "Logic for Rightwing Dummies."

"So many lefties are effete snobs who grew up in a pampered environment and have never held a real job (read: something other than working in dad's office or a government job) in their lives."

Unsubstantiated Allegation
For more on logic at YOUR level, try reading "Logic for Rightwing Dummies (pardon the redundancy)."

Oh goody, faker is back. Welcome.

Now provide EV as you've been told.

I keep seeing the faker everywhere I look.

The world inside my head is a very magical place.

Alice's Wonderland has nothing on me.

Hi Warren! How you been?